Prompt: “For just a buck you get the name and number of your one true soulmate.” (inspired by/quote from 13rw)

a/n: (DAY 3 OF THE 7DOS!!) i really liked how this turned out :) also i love 13rw and the dollar valentines was too cute of an idea to pass up!

(Y/N) walked to school that day, dreading what was there to come. It was valentine’s day, which meant couples giving gifts, people openly making out in hallways, and the “Oh My Dollar Valentines”.

The “Oh My Dollar Valentines” were an event held by the cheerleaders each year in attempts to raise money for their cheer squad. The concept was simple, you fill out a survey and the cheerleaders match you up with someone. If you pay one dollar, you get the name and number of you “one true soulmate”, and for five dollars you get the names and numbers of your top five people.

Every year, it was a huge thing at (Y/N)’s school, and every year she would participate. It was truly impossible to escape the many cheerleaders asking if you would fill out your survey and pay. Each time she filled out the survey and received her “true soulmates” it would be some dickhead that didn’t give a single shit about anything except for themselves and how many girls they’ve hooked up with.

All those other years, (Y/N) would fill those quizzes out as if she were someone else. She would pretend she was some shallow girl who was bitchy and rich. This year, however, she would fill it out honestly. This year she planned on getting a real answer.

Walking to the front of the school, the Oh My Dollar Valentines booth was set up, and cheerleaders were everywhere, smiling brightly and asking people if they wanted to fill out the survey and pay a dollar. (Y/N) hadn’t even walked five steps on campus before she was stopped by someone.

“Do you want to do the Oh My Dollar Valentines?” spoke a cheerleader.

(Y/N) looked up at the girl, it was someone she knew from a class or two, and smiled, “Sure!”

The girl looked happy and handed her a paper, “Do you want your one true soulmate or your top five?”

“I’ll just do the one,” (Y/N) stated, “I’m feeling lucky.” With that said, she handed the girl a dollar bill she fished out of her backpack, and walked to the booth.

Reading through the questions, (Y/N) answered all of them honestly. She wrote her name and phone number at the top as neatly as she could so nobody could mistake the numbers for others. For no real reason (Y/N) other than sheer curiosity, just wanted to know if there was a guy at that school that wasn’t a complete fuckboy, or a complete dick for that matter.

Handing the paper to the cheerleader collecting papers, the girl thanked her and turned away. (Y/N) started walking towards the school, now waiting for either a phone call or someone to give her a sheet with her “true love”.

(Y/N) walked she passed Peter, a boy she didn’t know too well but had seen around. Though (Y/N) had never really talked to him, Peter had developed a crush on her. He thought it was stupid, but his feelings persisted. He stared at her as she walked, maybe for a second too long, but fortunately his friend didn’t notice.

Him and his friend had to part ways, as his class was on the other side of the school, but Peter was soon met by a cheerleader asking him to participate in the Oh My Dollar Valentines. What the hell he thought, paying his dollar and filling out his form. He didn’t really think much of it, but Peter secretly hoped that it would say (Y/N) (L/N).

A/N: Hope you guys like this, because I’m back and the next part I’m REALLY excited for.

Paring: Shawn X Fan

Word Count: 5,625

“You what!” My friend Mica almost yelled.

I shushed her looking around hoping that she hadn’t drawn too many eyes to us. I only found a few but they didn’t linger before going back to their laptops or lunch. Turning back I was smiling at her outburst but wanting to contain it. I swatted at her telling her to shut up before crossing my legs and stirring my iced drink.

“Oh my god, are you fucking serious?” She continued. “You fucking with me right now. You did not meet Shawn Mendes on the fucking street!”

I haven’t posted my own spells on the tumblr dot com yet, so, here goes. I think I might add one every full moon but I’m pretty forgetful so don’t hold me to it (or do, if you really enjoy it). I know this moon has nothing to do with love or whatever else but 1) I do what I want and 2) this has been one of my top five favorite personal spells for a few years now, I “renew” it every time my SO and I are going through a tough time. Right now there’s a lot of physical distance between us and I want to make sure he knows I love his stupid face even if we can’t be near each other. On to the goods…

Stuffs:

intent and the ability to visualize (pretty important for me, maybe not for you)

red candle

jar

shell dust

sugar

Himalayan pink salt

cinnamon chips

picture of loved one

rose quartz chips (not necessary, it’s just our combined fav stone)

shell chips

a kiss (yours)

To start, always ground/center yourself. Focus on what you want this spell to accomplish. Light your candle (mine was red but white or pink or whatever color you find “lovey” works just the same), I had a picture of my boy propped up with the candle sitting below it. Now’s the fun part, layering your jar. I did mine exactly how the ingredients are listed up to the kiss but feel free to layer it however you’d like, maybe add some of those little conversation hearts, I don’t know, dude. It’s your spell. After you get your jar filled, you can finish and blow out the candle and seal the jar with a kiss and some wax, or you can say some words. Again, whatever works for you. Because I was a secret-witch for some years, I feel uncomfortable speaking during a spell, so a lot of my spells need a butt-load of visualization.

My personal process: I start by visualizing the way my boy feels about me, what I think his love for me looks like, and I picture my own love for him. I imagine what it all feels like, all that ooey gooey stuff, and I ball it up tight into a giant pearl, and close it up in a proportionately giant clam shell. After it’s closed, I check the seal just to make sure there are no cracks or anything. (That’s not necessary since I don’t purposefully imagine cracks in the shell but there have been times where I let unresolved issues fester, and the shell just looks weak to me. It’s a sign, for me, that I need to stop and actually talk to him before I start over with the spell.) I end it all by blowing out the candle and sending him an “I love you” text or calling him to hear his voice. Then I seal the jar with a kiss followed by the wax from the candle.

This spell isn’t a “fixed” thing. Change it up, do it for your grandma, customize it, substitute a picture for a thread of their fav sweater, omit stuff, add things that mean something to you. Do what’s right for your love. In fact, let me know how this spell goes for you, I’d love to hear your take on it!

You can read mine below or here (X)! This one is yet another WIP lol. Good job everyone who participated, I can’t wait to read yours!

I’m on a bus before I know it, my sister’s voice still ringing in my ears.

“Mom’s dead. They’re calling in a new Sheriff.”

It’s been years since I’ve been home, but I know what that means. There’ll be blood in our county before the month’s up and, with Sis pregnant with her second, that’s something Abbey’s can’t afford.

So I break the promise I made when I was sixteen and I come home. Mom’s not around to care though, so it’s hardly like there was much of a promise to break anyway.

Judging by Orisa’s face, she doesn’t agree.

“I told you not to come,” she says when I jump off the bus. She’s got a toddler by the hand and her belly is swollen with another child. For all that, she’s still got a whole belt of stakes slung over her shoulder.

“You’re expecting trouble,” I say, chin jerking to the wood. “I had to.” I drop my bag at my feet and squat down with a friendly smile. “Ara? Is that you? But, it can’t be, you’re so big!”

ask : could I have another Percy oneshot? Where she steals all of his shirts and him whining, “You’ve already taken my heart what more could you want from me?”

i hope you like it !! sorry it took so long for me to put up :(

It started off innocently.

Three months into your relationship, and you popped the question.

“Can I have one of your hoodies?”

The son of Poseidon didn’t think anything of it, tossing you one of his blue hoodies. Slipping it on, you smiled at him, wrapping your arms around his torso and stepping on your tippy-toes, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

Jackson remembers that day like it was yesterday. To say he regrets it he’ll deny, but you’ve seen that he has.

Stealing one hoodie turned into two hoodies and a shirt. You once walked into a meeting at Camp Half-Blood wearing Percy’s infamous ‘Jaws’ shirt.

“Isn’t that Percy’s, Y/N?” Connor asked, and Percy’s head rose quickly. For a second, he frowned, before he smiled again.

“Looks cute on you.” He said truthfully, but he was wondering how you got it.

That’s his favorite shirt after all, but he didn’t put much thought into it. Besides, you looked very cute in it, and he couldn’t deny that.

Two hoodies and a shirt turned into five shirts and three hoodies, that you were almost positive Percy would never miss, but he did.

“Babe, have you seen my blue tank-top with the corny sea saying on it?” Percy called from his closet. You frowned down at the shirt you were wearing.

“Which one?” You called back. You were pretty sure it was the one you were wearing right now. As he described it, you smiled sheepishly, standing up and tapping his shoulder. “This one?” You asked, and he turned, looking down at you.

Percy sighed. “Yup. That’s the one.” He turned to his closet again, tugging out a different shirt. “I’ll just wear this one.” He smiled at you, but you could see he was slightly annoyed about you taking his clothes.

It didn’t bother you too much, you just loved wearing what’s his. It reminded you that you were his, no matter how many dirty looks you got.

Sooner or later, you raided his whole closet. Knowing that he’d notice, you quickly distanced yourself from Cabin Three.

“Y/N L/N!!” Percy’s shouts were heard from all across camp, and you booked it, finding your way towards Bunker Nine. Barging in, Leo screamed, falling off the ladder that both Piper and Jason were holding.

“DIOS MIO Y/N!” Leo shouted, groaning from the impact on the floor.

“Sorry I-” The door flew open again, and this time Percy stepped in, looking pretty harmless, and you smiled sheepishly.

“Hi babe…” You trailed off, and he smiled back at you.

“Hey. Care to tell me why half of my closet’s gone?” He asked innocently, and you looked down at the shirt and zip up hoodie you were wearing.

That was Percy’s.

“Uh, I like your clothes?” You weren’t so sure yourself. Percy threw his hands up in exasperation.

“You’ve already taken my heart, what more do you want from me?” He whined, pouting at you like a baby seal.

“I look cute in it though.” You matched his expression, tugging at the hem of the shirt. Percy cocked his head at you.

“That isn’t gonna work on me Y/N.” He responded. You pouted again, and he frowned a little bit.

“Okay, maybe it might.” Percy admitted, but he crossed his arms. “But I want my shirts and hoodies back Y/N. I mean it.” You looked down, shuffling on your feet like a scolded puppy.

“Okay Percy.” You finally answered, a sad undertone in your voice.

“Y/N, don’t do that.” He responded, reaching out for you. You passed him, your head hanging.

“I guess I’ll just give them all back.” You were at the door to Bunker Nine now, sulking dramatically.

“Fine. FINE! You can wear my shirts and hoodies.” Percy gave in. You squealed in happiness, running back inside and pressing a kiss against his lips.

“Thanks babe!” You shouted happily, before bolting out of the bunker.

“You’re soft, Jackson.” Leo commented, not even bothering to get up from his position on the floor. Percy smiled at the door from where you ran.

“What’s wrong with that?” He responded, before waltzing out of Bunker Nine.

Trini stared at the passage in front of her and clenched her
fist; not registering the feeling of the broken plastic that was once her pen
digging into her palm and fingers, or the feeling of ink coating said palm and
fingers. (Damn Ranger strength.) She had read the paragraph at least three
times by now and just barely understood what the hell it was trying to tell
her. She finally noticed her broken pen when ink dripped onto her notebook with
a light ‘plip.’

She snapped her head up and looked to her hand, trying to
register when she broke her pen. It could have been five minutes ago, ten,
fifteen, hell, even thirty minutes ago, with how tight her fist was clenched,
the ink probably leaked out slowly with her fist acting as a tourniquet. Trini
frowned as she dropped her pen into the trash bin by her desk and wiped as much
of the ink off as she could on the edge of the bin coating the brown plastic
grocery bag she used as a can liner in black ink.

Omg how could you do this to me? There are so many fics I love. All right, well, there are at least two for sure I can think of off the top of my head. I’ll have to wrack my memory to think of the rest since I’m terrible at remembering things, even things I love. lol

The Opened Watch by @tisiphon - Probably one of my top favorite fics ever. I went into this one not expecting anything different from the other royai fics I had read up to that point, and it seemed unassuming. I liked that it explored what might happen to Roy and Riza as they aged. The end is what killed me. I didn’t expect it to evoke so much emotion and I absolutely cried. I was not expecting the end reveal even though it was there in front of me the whole time. The foreshadowing was fantastic. It was such a brilliant idea. I can’t believe I had never thought of that kind of thing before. This is a must read for royai fans.

Soulbound by Minerva Aemilius - Another fic that made me gasp and filled me with emotion. It had a similar theme to The Opened Watch so I guess that concept is just my thing. I began this fic expecting it to just be angsty and a generic ‘Mustang loses his mind after Hawkeye dies’ kind of fic, but it turned out to be so much more. It really solidified their relationship, how close they are, how well they can work together. I love this fic, okay? I can never explore this kind of idea because I will never execute it as well.

An Empty Land by @rizascupcakes - Listen, I love all of Kate’s fics, but this one has stuck with me ever since I read it, like, a year ago, probably because of how much the ending hurt. I gasped, cried, and had to clutch my chest. To be honest, those kinds of emotions are hard to elicit from me. I don’t tear up too easily and it takes something really emotional to make me feel pain like that. Do yourself a favor and read this so you too can join me in wallowing in royai angst hell.

Call to Arms by @aheartmadefullmetal16 - I adore the idea that Roy and Riza have personal codes they use besides Roy’s alchemy code. It was a headcanon I had after reading the scene in the cafeteria in the manga and I was so happy to see it manifested in fic form without me having to come up with it because I’ll be honest, I really really suck at coming up with codes and languages and the like. It’s done very well here and in all the fics Kaylee uses this idea in. I love the fluff in this, it gets me every time.

A Snowball’s Chance by Janieshi- So many of my favorite tropes are in this one. Being trapped in a snowstorm while injured, cuddling up for warmth, a little fake dating, pretending to be a family. Lots of royai fluff and some mama hawk/Ed that I don’t see enough of. And Ed finding out about Riza’s tattoo is another idea I love seeing explored. The fluff was fantastic in this and I enjoyed the plot too. Good combination of fluff and plot.

It was so hard to choose just five. There are at least five or six more fics I wanted to list. But these are the ones that are most memorable to me, that have scenes that stuck with me long after I finished reading them. I highly recommend reading them.

One time I walked in to a store and a guy came over to help. He’s talking to me for a minute and I’m being semi socially-capable. He takes a step back, looks me up and down and says, “Hey, wait a minute…you look like that boy from that show.” I go, “Yeah?” And he says, “Yeah, that kid from (show name redacted) show. Damn. You look just like him.” It was a different show with a guy who shoots arrows. I was like, “Oh, yeah I hear that sometimes.”

5. Last book you read?

[I’ve] been reading Dune. It’s nice when you haven’t read a book in ten years so you forget most of it and it’s like reading it anew. So great.

a/n: you guys said you wanted drama, so here it is……..read part six if you need to catch up on the series!

“Dad, hurry up, let’s go!”

Liam waits impatiently by the door with his mother while they wait on Roman to join them. It’s a beautiful summer evening in Dortmund, so they decided to go on a family walk to a nearby park – except Roman is taking too long to put his shoes on.

A friend of mine invited me to an event he had seen on Facebook. It was basically a sparring event, where you could bring anything you wanted and people would respect your boundaries and spar with you. Despite it being hot as hell in the space they had, I had a pretty great time. People laughed at my GoT references, so yeah. Fun crowd.

But what eventually happened was that I was talking with another girl–we’ll call her J for privacy reasons–and Beauty and the Beast came up. She told me she refused to see the remake because, and I quote, “the magic of classic Disney is making a 2-D picture move, and making it beautiful. So why would I see it when it’s only an attempt to make something that’s already perfect better?”

I tried to point out that half the cast was still animated, and that aesthetically it was beautiful, but she wasn’t going to change her mind, and I wasn’t really going to push her. Then someone came up to her and asked if she wanted to spar with her, and she went. Leaving me alone on the bench with the friend who had invited me. He also had not seen the movie, but it was on his list because Emma Watson was in it. So I’m like “Okay, if you’re interested, then you should go and see it; I’ve seen in a thousand times but I will see it again with you, if you don’t want to go alone.”

Now, this guy is ex-military, so it threw me off guard when he said he’d seen the original and remembered this specific part so well (it was this part of the movie that we talked the most about), but he asked me about the siege–aka the staff vs the villagers. So I tell him they did it well, and that the fight was one of the best parts of the movie, but tried to skirt around most of it because spoilers. But at the very end of my little talk, I casually drop Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellen’s names because I know this guy loves Star Wars and LotR. He says “Wait, they’re in it too?” “Yeah.” “As who?” “Lumiere and Cogsworth.”“No sh!t?” His eyes actually go wide.“No sh!t,” I reply, and I’m grinning. Did not expect a reaction like that, but I loved it.“Okay, I really have to see it now.”So we make minor plans to have a movie night at my place with a couple of people we know.

But that’s not even the best part.

On the way back, I tell him that there were some new characters they added, but they were there for the sake of giving the staff more backstory. He likes this, and I find that the only reason he remembers the wardrobe is because she jumps on a guy in the siege scene. I told him that they didn’t cut that out–but apparently that’s spoiler territory.

Here’s the best part.

Then he turns to me and asks something that I never would have expected in a million years, because it’s always me that brings this up with people:

“I just wanted to make sure of this, but did they keep the hat-rack in there? Because I remember him punching another guy and it was hilarious. And does he have a face? I don’t think he did in the original.”

I think I was silent for five full seconds before I just say “Oh yeah, he’s in there. And he’s one of my top five. And he has a name now.” And then I show him a picture that showed that while in coat-rack form, Chapeau does indeed have a face. Plus a bunch of other things! At one point I actually feigned ignorance to see if he remembered that Chapeau played the violin and had the Mad Hatter’s top-hat. He didn’t, but he still made my night.

Last time I suggested a series of read-throughs once you finish the first draft to give you an overview of things that you need to focus on when you go in for the rewriting and editing. Sometimes, you have an entire scene whose essence is generally right, but maybe the order or the wording or the focus isn’t quite right. Even worse, you try to take a stick and scissors to it and it’s not doing anything, just staring at you with that bad prose. Here’s a technique I’ve found helpful, and hopefully you will too.

Step One: Change the font size to the smallest you can still bear to read, change the margins to 0.5 all the way around, and hit print on just that section. These changes will help you save paper, always a plus.

Step Two: Grab anywhere from 3-5 different colors of highlighters or markers. Designate the colors to the following plot arcs:

main plot

subplot

main character development

If you have more than one subplot, use a different color for each; same goes for if you have more than one main character. Be very discerning about who constitutes a main character and who is really a secondary with a large role acting as a subplot for the book. Try to whittle it down to those 3-5 colors. Less is preferable to more. What you’re going to do is break the story down into its most basic components. Write yourself a key/legend for the colors so you don’t get lost. For my piece that’s pictured, blue identifies the main plot, pink the subplot, and orange signifies character development for my main character. Transitional sentences that don’t have anything to do with anything except to facilitate scene or topic changes I left uncolored.

Step Three: Highlight each sentence according to its function in the story. Often times, whole paragraphs will be all one color, but every now and then, there will be a multicolored paragraph, or a color change halfway through. Be sure to color accordingly. Don’t get lazy and assume.

Step Four: Cut the story into pieces according to color.

Sometimes you’ll be left with one sentence awkwardly hanging out on its own slip, like that pink one right above the blue section in my piece. Try to keep things all in connected pieces of paper. If one paragraph goes onto the top of the next page and it’s the same color, tape them to make them one slip. You can see that a little bit with the blue paragraph.

Step Five: Switch things up! Move the pieces of your scene-puzzle around, keeping in mind that you’re trying to streamline this prose and also see what things simply don’t fit. By highlighting, you should be able to better see what things feel out of place or sections that might come off as choppy. Try moving things in a way that attempts to put related story lines together. Obviously not all the sections of each line need to be together, but the more you can connect things that go with each other, the smoother your scene will flow. Of course, there may also be sections you choose to remove because they no longer go in this scene. That’s okay. Set those aside and keep fiddling. Transition sentence can always be rewritten to fit the new flow, so don’t worry too much if right now the rearranged pieces don’t entirely fit. Sentence beginnings can be altered to fit with their new place, and sections you decide to remove from this scene can be fit into other places in you novel if you think they’re still necessary.

Step Six: Implement the changes into your digital copy, changing transitions and the little details to fit. This may include changing actions or setting to fit with your new order. My scene started out with my character on a rooftop, then she hopped into the street and had a conversation, then went up the street to observe something, hopped back on the rooftops to have another conversation, hopped back down into the streets to witness something else. In the new scene, she observes something, has her conversation in the street, witnesses something, then gets up on the roof and has her conversation. Those little changes about where she is had to be made, but it takes only a few word changes to clarify those.

Here’s a tip: Be very discerning and tough on your prose. When you are deciding if a slip needs to be kept or not, consider if there’s a better way to incorporate the information. If there is, chuck that slip. This technique allows you see if the focus of the scene is on what matters and not on something else.

Here’s what my piece started out looking like:

Here’s how it ended up:

(side note: the large white chunk at the top of the second column should be colored entirely blue, however I knew I needed to simply rewrite that whole section, so I left it uncolored.) Yes, some pieces stayed the same, and I didn’t get rid of a lot (the slips set aside at the bottom are ones that were removed), but what I was able to do was refocus on what mattered, remove excess fat, and recognize where things didn’t flow. Look at the first column of the top picture! What a mess! In the end, the scene smoothed out, and I felt a lot better about the whole section. When I first learned this technique I thought it was ridiculous and that it would never help, but if you’re really, truly stuck on a scene and can’t figure out what’s wrong with it, try this out.

(still need help? not sure how this would ever help you? my ask box is always open.)

I hated that the twins were still around after 3a after what they did to Boyd. I never understood why Scott would let them stay in what I guess was his territory since Derek was no longer an alpha. The decimation of the Hale pack broke my heart and these reminders were always there.

I honestly think the twins only stayed around because Jeff liked them-slash-thought they were attractive and wanted to keep them on screen. There was no reason for them to stay, it was stupid and dangerous for them to want to stay in a place where so many people would (or should, anyway) want them dead, and there was really no redeeming value to either of those characters.

I mean, people talk about Dethan and how cute it was, but it has to be one of my top five least favorite ships in all of Teen Wolf, maybe top three, because I thought it was just incredibly twisted that Ethan was a murderer, basically a serial killer, and no one thought it was at all necessary to warn Danny that he was… well, dating a serial killer. And Scott was generally portrayed as a forgiving character, sure, but cheerfully holding someone down, holding another person down, and forcing the first one to murder the second one on their claws is not really forgivable. Especially not when the murdered person was a classmate and at least casual friend, and the other was an ally-slash-friend who’s already been victimized and forced to hurt others so many times it’s painful to think about. And maybe Kali was the one who killed Erica, but the others were involved in it. They were also happy to imprison Cora and Boyd until they went feral and on an attempted murder spree, like… these two were not nice characters. And if they wanted to try and change (which, good for them I guess) Beacon Hills was not the place to do it. These people were not people who should be expected to forgive you, or expected to share classes with you, or to be ok with you invading their loft yet again to use for your own purposes. I’m really glad Isaac, at least, continued to show some anger toward them (although he was happy to go to their “invasion of the loft” party, along with the rest of the pack, because plot convenience over character consistency, right Jeff?) but no one else really seemed to care all that much.

The worst thing was that this was portrayed as Ethan trying to be a good guy. He was trying to win over the pack by doing something nice for Danny without asking for a reward - and no one seemed to care that it was messed up. This was played up as being part of the twins’ redemption arc and not a horrific breach of privacy of someone they’d recently been torturing/trying to kill/forcing to kill his friends.

Yeah, that’s just… this is just a basic writing fail, honestly. And this is something all writers need to think about, whether they’re writing shows, novels, fics, whatever: how would each character react to this situation? If I have Peter walk into a room where Stiles is sitting and punch the Sheriff in the face, I can’t just put the fact that Stiles is there on hold, in order to have a showdown between Peter and the Sheriff. I need to stop and think “how would Stiles react to this?” and have him do that thing.

If the twins decide to throw a party in Derek’s loft, where they’d just murdered Boyd about a month before, I need to think “how would each member of the pack react to that?” Maybe you could say Scott would be ok with it, appreciating the twins’ terrible attempt to mend fences. Maybe Lydia and Allison would be ok with it, because they didn’t really know Boyd and weren’t really involved in that situation. Kira wouldn’t even know what had happened. But Isaac and Stiles? Who were both there when it happened, and both showed animosity toward the twins in general, and were both somewhat closer to Boyd? Wouldn’t they react? So, as a writer, you either need to show them reacting –– protesting the party in some way –– or maybe not knowing about/not attending the party. Something. And sure, it’s a writing skill you develop over time –– to keep track of all your characters and have them react accordingly –– but I would assume that people hired to write for TV shows would need to have some credentials, some writing experience.

And there are a lot of shows and stories where I don’t necessarily agree with the way characters react, but I can understand how the writers got to that place. In TW, unfortunately, it’s usually less about whether I agree with what they’re thinking and more about the fact that they weren’t thinking –– or rather, just didn’t care about what the characters should be thinking.

Hey, so I was wondering, besides Jonerys, who do you think are the best GoT/ASOIAF couples

Ooh yay! I love this question!

Ok probably my favorite ship other than Jonerys is Gendrya. Gendry is so strong and kind and he and Arya mesh so well together. Because when Arya gets feisty and angry Gendry just takes it and throws it right back at her. Together they’re funny and sweet. Probably the purest pairing haha. I love the show!scene when Gendry calls her m’lady and I love the Acorn Hall scene in the books. It’s a travesty that the show denied it to us.

Gendry will be coming back though this season and I am hoping that he and Arya interact in season 8. I just … I really need it ok?

That being said, I have to admit that the scene of Pod looking at Arya like she is literally the most amazing thing he has ever laid eyes on in the last episode really got me. So on the side I am really into the idea of Arya x Pod, too.

Pod is so desperate to become a good fighter, and Arya could teach him. And they could be sparring and she could knock him down or something and then they could have A Moment™.

It’s weird how immediately I latched onto that because Pod used to be the person I paired with Sansa as an OTP in my mind. I love the one book scene where they talk and he blushes a lot haha. He totally thinks she’s beautiful. It’s canon. And while Sansa has always wanted a brave knight (granted she’s probably disillusioned now), Pod has always wanted to be one. He would take such good care of her :’) He’s already dedicated the last few years to finding and protecting her … the fanfic writes itself.

I also used to ship Sansa with Theon. I mean, how could you not after watching this scene? He was ready to die for her and they were just so sweet together idk. Especially when Pod and Brienne showed up, I loved how Sansa looked at Theon for his nod of approval before accepting Brienne’s fealty. And she seemed genuinely sad when he announced that he was going to leave to head back to Pike.

But I am not so sure now. This season is really making me doubt that Theon will ever be okay again, and I think Sansa deserves someone who can take care of her. Poor Theon can’t really take care of himself currently. :/

I also love Jaime x Brienne. Jaime is one of my favorite characters. Definitely top five. I’ve been getting more and more invested in him lately haha. Last episode definitely didn’t help. Anyway, I just love how when he’s with Brienne we get to see a softer and kinder side of Jaime, which I think is the real Jaime, the one who isn’t just doing everything he can to please and protect Cersei. Cersei is a toxic influence in his life and I feel like Jaime’s finest moments have either been with or influenced by Brienne. Trying to keep his oath to Catelyn, saving Brienne from the bear, deciding against violently attacking Riverrun, etc.

At the same time, Brienne is so wonderful and such an amazing character. She absolutely deserves love and to be loved by someone valiant and handsome like Jaime. I hate that she spends so long thinking she isn’t worthy because she isn’t like objectively pretty or whatever (that’s clearly book!canon because Gwendoline Christie is a goddess). And I do believe that they already love each other. Whether we see it become canon or not, Jaime loves her. No one will convinced me otherwise.

Aside from these I have some crack ships that will never happen that are near and dear to my heart haha.

I really enjoy Dany and Yara. They have both become these kind of ruthless, powerful badasses and I just imagine that it would be extremely hot?

And while there was a time when I would have laughed about this ship I have recently been dying over Jaime x Dany crack. Mainly it started when I read this fic which was recommended to me by a friend. It is so good you guys. So fucking good. Consider this an enthusiastic fic rec. (Don’t worry–Jonerys is OTP. Like I said this is my side crack lol).

But I would probably be down for almost any Jaime ship lately because I’m deep in a Jaime obsession. I mean, look at him.

And while I have these side ships for Dany I don’t have any for Jon weirdly? Idk I am a hopeless Jon stan. He is my perfect prince and as far as I’m concerned the only woman worthy of him is Dany. I can’t wait to see more of them!

A/N: This is my first multichapter fic for the Bughead fandom. I based a lot of stuff in this off of real events from when I was traveling in Europe. Of course, I didn’t meet a cute boy or anything, so I just inserted events wherever they seemed to fit, including the photo on the bottom left. Enjoy and I hope you continue to follow wherever the wind takes our world travelers in the future chapters. (Also on AO3)

“Cheryl! Keep up!” Betty shouted to the girl
trailing behind her. Veronica was leading the way, marching into the hostel
they had booked for the next four nights. “There’ll be plenty of time for
shopping tomorrow.”

Betty was already dragging one of Cheryl’s bags behind her
as well as her own two bags. How she’d gotten roped into that she wasn’t sure,
but at least they were finally at the end of their long walk from the bus
station. By the time Betty had gotten Cheryl’s attention and led her to the
entrance of the skinny building, Veronica had already them checked in.

“Top floor, it’s practically the penthouse suite.”
Veronica announced to her friends who were just entering behind her. “And
I have these three young gentlemen who are going to help us with our
bags.”

Betty widened her eyes at Veronica. What happened to
stranger danger?

“Don’t worry, they’re from the States too, so no
language barrier. They’re taking the other three beds in our room.”

“Well well well, would you look at these tall drinks of
water.” Cheryl crooned. She dropped her duffel dramatically and hooked her
arms with the redheaded boy and the tall, handsome Asian boy standing next to
him. The third boy leaned against the wall, as if waiting for this whole
interaction to end. His small beanie could barely confine the thick locks of black hair
underneath.

Betty was still trying to figure out just how Veronica had
managed make friends in the two minutes that they’d been separated. The redhead
lifted Veronica’s bags and headed toward the stairs at the front of the
building.

“Wait for me, Archiekins.” Veronica winked at her
friend and followed the well-built boy to the stairs. “I’ll get the door
for you.”

Cheryl had clearly already claimed her pack mule, gesturing
to her bags that she’d dropped earlier. “Betty, don’t be silly, he’ll
carry my bags the rest of the way.”

The pair disappeared up the stairs and Betty was left with
the third mysterious stranger.

“Well, that was weird.” The boy pushed off the
wall and sauntered over to where Betty stood. He nodded toward Betty’s luggage.
“Need any help with those?”

Archery testing round two! The last post was already way too long, so when I thought of more archery mechanics I had yet to test, I decided to make them their own post rather than adding to that one.

First up is the Ancient
Bow. It’s known for how far arrows shot with it will fly in a straight
line, but does it also do bonus damage to Guardians like other Ancient
and Guardian weapons do?

Indeed it does! The bow’s base damage is 44, and it did 66 to this Guardian, the same 50% increase I saw in previous testing. I also tested it with the Ancient Proficiency set bonus and it worked as expected, increasing damage by 80%.

Unfortunately, Ancient Proficiency doesn’t work with Ancient Arrows, which still did the same 1/3 of the Guardian’s maximum HP in damage.

Time for a change of scenery!
Now that I have an Ancient Bow, I’m curious just how arrows shot by it will fly. I’ve chosen the ridiculously long Great Zora Bridge for the same reasons as I did for my run speed tests: it’s long, and the arches make for easy measurement. I’m standing directly under the first arch, and will be counting how many arches the arrows pass through.

The Traveler’s Bow fires an arrow just past the fourth arch!

The Royal Guard’s Bow is 6.5 to 7 arches!

For the record, after multiple test fires with a bow, I go to check where the arrows landed. I’m not just basing the distance on where it looks like the arrows landed from the other end of the bridge.

The five-shot variant of the Savage Lynel Bow looks like it reaches about 4.5 arches! Arrows shot with this bow don’t drop as collectible items after landing, so it’s hard to say exactly where they landed. It sure looks cool, though!

As expected of a sniping weapon, the Golden Bow manages to get just past the eighth arch! Can the Ancient Bow top that?

The Ancient Bow shoots ridiculously far! I couldn’t even guess!

Wow, that’s over 13 arches! There was a bit of wind that blew them all to one side, but I don’t think it affects my measurements.

Now for the big one: the Twilight Bow! It fires the same Light Arrows as the bow used in the game’s final battle, which shoot straight for impossibly long distances. Will the Twilight Bow have this same property?

Oh jeez. That thing shot straight down the bridge, and I think hit the Mipha statue in the center of Zora’s Domain. Wait, aren’t a couple Zoras between here and there? Uh oh…

Oh. Well, if everything’s fine, then everything’s fine! Haha… ha…

Okay! That puny bridge isn’t enough for the DIVINE POWER of this bow, so I’ve climbed to the top of Zora’s Domain.

…Think I can hit the elephant?

The arrow shoots completely straight, until it gets far enough away that it’s out of the game’s object render distance and winks out of existence. WELL THEN.

The final round of testing will be against the game’s final boss, so to avoid spoiling it for anyone, I’ll be placing it after the cut.

I specifically wrote this so that there are NO SPOILERS for those who haven’t seen the movie yet!

But seriously go see it if you haven’t. I’m going to marry this man.

**2 YEARS LATER UPDATE: Now gender neutral with less shitty writing

You weren’t surprised to wake up alone. Someone who referred to himself as “Star-lord” definitely was not the type to stick around for morning-after-cuddling. No. You’d known how it’d go from the moment you stepped foot on his ship. You would have sloppy, drunken sex—which you did—he would pass out immediately after—which he did—and then you would find yourself where you were now. Alone in bed, covered by a grungy blanket.

It wasn’t a big place and you could hear him rustling around above you. He was humming to himself and probably pacing as he waited for you to make your exit. At least he was polite enough to let you sleep. You sighed and looked around. No clocks or windows. Just a small flickering light on the ceiling, and a huge mess everywhere else.

“Slob,” you yawned as you stretched. He wasn’t the most courteous host so you weren’t bothered to feel guilty about about overstaying your welcome. After last night, you were going to take your sweet time.

There were garments strewn all over the floor. Some his, most yours, as it seemed he’d probably decided to recycle the outfit he’d worn last night. You didn’t know how you remembered what he’d worn, especially when the image of his chiseled body burned itself in your mind…definitely not something you expected from a man who was clearly experienced with copious amounts of alcohol. But nonetheless, the red leather jacket, gray shirt and brown pants were all gone, leaving behind a lone pair of ratty boxer briefs.

You guys I don’t see enough of these posts on here so I just want to take a second and say; I love and support ALL Muslim girls!! I love Muslim girls who wear the hijab, and those who don’t. I love Muslim girls with Niqab, I love Muslim girls in short skirts. I love desi Muslim girls and white Muslim girls and arab Muslim girls and black Muslim girls and east-asian Muslim girls and latina Muslim girls. Muslim girls are so strong and so beautiful and so pure. I love my sisters who converted, and I love the ones born into Muslim households. I love Muslim girls who pray five times a day, I love those who are 100% sure of their faith. I love Muslim girls whose faith is often tested, the ones who find themselves doubting. I want them to know they are strong and beautiful and InshaAllah will find their standing. I love my LGBTQ+ Muslim girls. I love my Muslim girls out there doing amazing things; winning oscars, doing olympic sports, my sisters in the White House, my sisters in the courtroom, leading fashion designers, top chefs, scientists, artists, philanthropists, entrepreneurs. I love Muslim girls and women who stay at home to take care of their families. I love my Muslim girls giving it all up to become mothers, and I love my Muslim girls who put their careers first, and may or may not want to ever have kids. I am here for my Muslim girls who don’t want to get married, but feel socially pressurized and obligated to. You are not alone. You are strong, and beautiful, and Allah has great things planned for you. I absolutely love my bicultural Muslim girls, who find it difficult finding the balance between religion and various sociopolitical aspects. I adore my Muslim girls who constantly have to prove to their Western counterparts that they are not oppressed, and have to ardently work to fight stereotypes every single day. I am here to support every Muslim girl who feels suffocated under cultural and familial pressure and the warped ideals of “Islam” imposed on them by various forces. So much time and energy is spent trying to prove to foreign onlookers that we are not oppressed, that the internal problems of the Ummah and the fraction of those who are oppressed often go overlooked.
All of you girls who are conflicted about Surah Al-Nissa, or shed tears when they reflect on Surah Al-Rehman, or recite Surah Al-Fatiha every day, I am here for you all. I am here for my Muslim girls who grow up in cultures where male dominance is the zeitgeist; those who are undermined by their older brothers, told that they are a burden to their fathers, taught that they are to be subservient to their husbands. I love Muslim girls who spend their whole lives struggling against that, and those who are forced to submit to it; Allah sees you. I love Muslim girls who feel invalidated or isolated from the Ummah due to their clothing, due to their queerness, due to their “Western ideals” or the color of their skin and the internal colorism in their community. I love Muslim girls who drink, and those who order orange juice while everyone else takes shots. I want to personally apologize to every Muslim girl who sees the problems in her community but is shunned when she voices how to fix them. Every Muslim girl who converted and will never feel “Muslim enough.” Every Muslim girl who is told by society that her religion constricts her in any way. Allah sees you, Allah sees you, Allah sees you.
Muslim girls are strong and beautiful and pure. I cannot say this enough, they are so strong. They are so beautiful. They are so pure. This is for every Muslim girl who feels judged by her community for not being religious enough. Every Muslim girl who feels judged by non-Muslims for being too religious. Every Muslim girl who has to abstain from doing things that will “dishonor” her family, while she watches male after male get away with the same things and more. Muslim girls who are made to feel like they are worth less than they are actually worth. Muslim girls who suffer abuse, who live in poverty and have to struggle to survive. My beautiful, beautiful Muslim girls who are bombed, and forced to flee their homelands, who lose loved ones and lose limbs and lose the will to live, yet continue striving and carry on living. SubhanAllah.
Every teenage Muslim girl who feels insecure about her clothing, about her looks, about her weight. Every Muslim girl who prays for things to be different, every Muslim girl who doesn’t pray at all.
Every Muslim girl, living, breathing surviving; carrying themselves with the utmost elegance and grace, while dodging bullet after bullet and having shit hurled at them from all directions. Every Muslim girl tackling Islamophobia, watching people whisper about her Hijab as she passes them; dealing with internalized Islamophobia, striving against Muslim male privilege and misogyny. Allah sees you. Remember, you are the nation of a Prophet (pbuh) who taught legions of men to avert their eyes out of respect for you. A Prophet whose wife mounted a camel and commanded an army into battle. A Prophet who arose in respect every time his daughter entered the room, and declared his women queens of his household. Always remember your status. Always remember how beautiful you are. Always stay strong, always love everything about yourself. Allah sees you. You are beautiful, my babies. I love you all.

I know this is late…but How about five quotations from one of my all time favorite interviews?

My best teacher - by Dan Stevens

I’m not sure how much I would have enjoyed my time at Tonbridge School in Kent had it not been for my English master, Jonathan Smith. He was one of those magical teachers who could spot a kid in trouble and know the right thing to say to him. I owe him a tremendous amount.

Not that I was miserable at Tonbridge, but in some ways I did feel out of my element there. For starters, unlike most of the other boys, I was a scholarship pupil - the son of two teachers rather than wealthy parents.
And on top of that, while I was pretty good on the academic front, the sporty culture of the school wasn’t my bag.

…being told that I must play sport brought out the worst in me. You would either find me behind the proverbial bike shed smoking a cigarette or going off to do a school play. But then, from the word go I had always been the idiot who wanted to get up on stage and perform.

In the oddness of the public school system, English and drama were my salvation. Jonathan and Lawence made the English department feel like a special place; they also recognised my passion for acting and were able to channel the various problems I might be going through as a teenage boy on to the stage. It helped a lot.

My relationship with Jonathan runs deep. He was a great mentor and always had a wise word to say about something, but never in a patronising, now-sit-down-and-listen-to-me-sonny kind of way.

I can remember, for example, the day when, in not so many words, he suggested that I might enjoy Cambridge. “Trust me,” he said, “You’d fit right in.” If he had cornered me and barked, “Stevens! Oxford! Magdalene College!” I’d have thought, ‘Oh sod off!’ But it was just a subtle intimation and when I went to Cambridge to see it for myself I thought, “Umm, the old boy might have been on to something here.”